


heroes always get remembered (but you know legends never die)

by whichlights



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Alternate Ending, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Non-Graphic Violence, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Semi dark, What-If, Why Did I Write This?, not proofread at all. at all.
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-17
Updated: 2017-05-16
Packaged: 2018-10-19 20:03:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10647069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whichlights/pseuds/whichlights
Summary: The final battle of Lloyd and the Overlord. It was anticipated. It was predicted. It was prophesied.Pause.Rewind.Lloyd knew he was doomed.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> dont question the title, emperor's new clothes by panic! at the disco is a Jam
> 
> i can add trigger warnings as needed but the major ones that kinda cover the entire fic is blood, torture, and suicidal thoughts and actions in some chapters

"Go, Lloyd!" Kai's voice was ringing in his ears.

Lloyd knew he was doomed. He knew it the second he had to start limping up the stairs to face the Overlord, his friends either turned or fighting their own battle, his leg throbbing, out of breath, bloody, and alone.

He kept going, if only because he had no choice. When was the last time he'd had a choice?

He got to the top, staring up at the monster of a beast the Overlord was. A dragon. He could just step on Lloyd and be done with it. Lloyd gulped and pulled on his mask. "I have come here to fight you!" Lloyd declared. 

The Overlord's voice left a slimy feeling in Lloyd's stomach as he said, "You're in no shape to fight. It's over. Evil wins."

"A ninja never quits." Lloyd said.

The Overlord laughed. "You don't even have a sword."

"I don't need a sword." Lloyd said. Would be nice if I had one, though. He summoned his energy, and surrounded himself in it, like a shield. 

"Then all I have to say is... goodbye." The Overlord breathed purple flames at Lloyd, and he winced under them. They weren't hot- they were freezing cold. His shield protected him from damage, but not from the chill. The fire started to push him backwards, and he nearly fell off the roof. Lloyd yelled, and grunted, jumping up. He was surrounded by light, and he was floating in the air, suspended by golden light. "I am the ultimate Spinjitzu master." He declared. The Overlord simply swatted at him like he was a fly. 

That's when things started to go wrong.

Lloyd looked down. His friends were standing there, all of them turned by the dark matter, and he got... a feeling. He could help them.

The Overlord swatted at him again. Lloyd kicked him back, and summoned a dragon made of golden energy. He looked down at his friends again, and the Overlord pounced on him. He yelped, and his leg hurt. "You can't defeat me! Where there is light, there will always be shadow!"

"Unless my light is bright enough!" Lloyd yelled back.

"Then I guess I will have to snuff out that light." The Overlord gave a gruesome approximation of a grin. 

Lloyd turned to his friends, his decision made. "Go!" He yelled out, and sent a blast of golden energy their way. It knocked them all off, towards where the Mega Dragon was laying in the distance. His golden dragon flickered. "Hold it together." He whispered. "This ends now." He told the Overlord.

"Yes, it does." And the Overlord attacked again.

* * *

 

Kai was surrounded by golden light, and he was falling. The light was surrounding him, protecting him. It cushioned his fall, but not completely. He landed against the asphalt with a thud. Rubbing his head, he groaned and looked up to where Lloyd was battling the Overlord, on a dragon made of golden light.

"What happened?" A girl beside him groaned. He looked. "Nya!" He gasped. "You're okay!" He got up and ran to her, hugging her.

"Yah." She gasped. "It had to have been the light. Where did it come from?"

Kai pointed. "Lloyd."

"He's failing." Nya whispered. "Look, his dragon, it's flickering. That light he fired at us must have taken too much out of him. Why did he do that?"

"To get us out of harm's way because he's selfless and giving like that." Kai cursed. "Damn you, Lloyd, you shouldn't have done that."

Jay, Cole, and Zane ran up to them, looking scuffed up but not evil anymore. "What happened?" Jay asked.

"The light must have cured us of the darkness." Zane said. 

Cole pointed. "Look at Lloyd!"

Kai looked up in horror as the Overlord attacked Lloyd again, and his dragon failed him completely, flickering out. Lloyd started falling towards the ground, screaming, surrounded by golden light that grew weaker as he fell. "Lloyd!" He called out in horror, already running forward. Logically, Kai knew there was no way he could get to him in time, and Lloyd was going to crash to the ground and-

With a roar of triumph, the Overlord swooped down and grabbed Lloyd in one massive paw. "No!" Kai kicked the ground as the Overlord soared away. "Damn you, Lloyd." He muttered, eyes stinging.

Jay ran up to him, breathing heavily. "We're... too late." He huffed. "We... lost..."

"I know." Kai said.

Sensei Wu came flying up on the Ultra Dragon, Misako behind him. "We have to retreat." He called out to them.

"But Lloyd..." Kai whispered.

"We will save my son at a later date." Misako said, but Kai could tell it pained her. "But for now, we must retreat to recover, and regroup."

Kai got on the dragon, followed by the rest of the team. The Overlord wouldn't stop circling his tower, roaring in victory. Kai couldn't see any light.

_Lloyd, I'm coming back for you, kiddo. Just... hold in there._

"We're headed back to the Dark Island!" Wu told them. 

"Where's Dareth?" Jay asked. 

"He wouldn't leave his dojo." Misako sighed. "Zane, your father stayed with him."

"They will be fine." Zane said.

They flew away from Ninjago City, where it lay covered by darkness, the light extinguished.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my tumblr is witchlightsands and im sorry in advance


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw for suicidal thoughts/actions, and violence this chapter

It took Kai one week to start demanding they go back.

"Lloyd is  _alive,_ and the Overlord has him. He's out last hope, we need to save him!"

Jay could see the sense in the statements, but Sensei Wu said no very firmly every time Kai asked to go back. Jay wasn't a fan of being on the loosing team.

Of course, they'd lost pretty badly.

The Dark Island wasn't a terrible place to camp out. It was actually pretty nice. Boring, but nice. Jay had a list of chores that he made up to keep himself occupied.

First- feed the dragon.

Second- keep Kai from sneaking off to save Lloyd. Jay was quickly realizing Lloyd was like a little brother to Kai, and Kai was _fiercely_ protective when it came to his siblings. (Exhibit A- Nya.)

That was Jay's entire chore list. Right now, he was on number two.

"Come on, together we can do it." Kai said insistently. 

"Nice try. Look, you know what Sensei said."

"Oh, come on. You want to know what happened to him too." Kai said, crossing his arms. "Just you and me, we take the dragon-"

"No." Jay said. "Just like the answer has been every day for the past week. No."

"Ninja never quit." Kai said.

"I know. I hate this too." Jay said quietly. "But we can't disobey Sensei Wu."

"I know, I know, I just feel so... cowardly."

Jay wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "Come on, I think Zane set up a training exercise. Let's clear our heads for a sec."

"Fine."

* * *

Lloyd had been involved in three rescue missions.

Rewind.

Eventually, the gash in Lloyd's stomach had scabbed over.

Rewind.

Lloyd didn't tell the stone warriors that humans needed water to live.

Rewind.

Pause.

Play.

Lloyd was chained in the basement of the Overlord's headquarters. There was no light except what faint glow he could produce himself, which was weakened dramatically by the vengestone cuffs around his wrists, pinning him to the wall. He had at least a pair of stone warriors guarding him at all times. Lloyd didn't know why they were obeying the Overlord again- he could only pray nothing had happened to Dareth.

The Overlord visited occasionally to gloat. At first, Lloyd spat back insults, and struggled and tried to attack him. It did no good, and the Overlord just laughed at him. One stone warrior asked why they didn't just turn Lloyd evil, because surely his power would be better spent helping their side instead of simply letting him rot, but the Overlord had just laughed again, teeth flashing. His words had haunted Lloyd's nightmares since.

"Because it amuses me to keep him like this, golden and defeated. He's like a trophy of my victory."

Lloyd had made it his personal mission to be the worst  _trophy_ ever. His new personal mission was to spite the Overlord.

Lloyd didn't tell the stone warriors that humans needed water to live. The stone warriors didn't have any idea. Lloyd knew humans could only last three or so days without water before they died of dehydration. The stone warriors didn't know that.

Apparently, the Overlord did. When he saw Lloyd, limp and unresponsive, he demanded to know if the warriors had given Lloyd anything to drink. Since then, Lloyd had been forced to drink water.

The Overlord wanted Lloyd alive.

Lloyd made it his mission to spite him.

Fast forward.

The stone warriors stood relatively close to him, and they had weapons. One day, Lloyd managed to kick one in the back of the knee and it dropped its sword, which he managed to kick up to his hands. He gripped the sword tightly, knowing he didn't have the time to cut his chains or the means to attack the other guard, his position awkward enough as it was. He felt he only had one option.

So Lloyd slashed himself in the stomach.

He dropped the sword with a smirk and blacked out. When he woke up, a stone warrior was wrapping bandages around his abdomen to stem the bleeding, muttering the whole time.

Eventually, the gash in Lloyd's stomach had scabbed over. No matter how much he stretched or struggled, he couldn't get the scab to break and bleed. The stone warriors guarding him no longer held sharp objects.

Fast forward.

Lloyd knew the Overlord had told him humans had to eat. He simply refused to, no matter how much they tried. He was determined to spite the Overlord, and if starving himself was what it took  _so be it_.

Skip.

Of course, Lloyd still slept. He had no choice in that matter, because last time he tried to keep himself awake he passed out anyways, and he wanted to at least control when he slept. But one day, he was woken up by the sounds of fighting, and to his amazement, Cole ran into the room, fighting off the stone warriors and cutting the chains off the Lloyd. He caught Lloyd before he fell to the ground. "I'm here to save you." Cole said with a grin. 

Lloyd had to lean against him for support, and they made it to the first floor (the door was on the second, so close so far) before they were overwhelmed. Lloyd was dragged back to the basement, and Cole was dragged out of Lloyd's line of sight. Lloyd closed his eyes, frustrated and sad.

When Lloyd opened his eyes, he was chained to the wall, and his guards from before were still there, and he realized it had been a dream.

Skip.

The next dream of a rescue, it was Jay. They also made it just to the first floor, but to the next stairwell, unlike Cole. Again, they were caught and dragged away and when Lloyd closed and opened his eyes he knew it had never happened. But that was when he realized the stone warriors had been feeding him while he was having his wild dreams of rescues.

Skip.

The next dream was Zane saving him, and with his analytical skills, they made it to the second floor. Lloyd could  _see_ the exit. Then they were caught again and Lloyd's dream broke again and when he woke up he made a noise between a wail and a scream, tears in his eyes.

Lloyd had been involved in three rescue missions. Three failed rescue missions.

Skip.

The fourth one was Kai. He ran in, fire in his hands, and defeated the guards and unchained Lloyd, just like the first three. But damn it, Kai felt real. Lloyd wanted to believe.

"Does your leg still hurt?" Kai asked him. Lloyd nodded. "Can I use you as a crutch?" Like all the other times.

"No problem, kiddo." Lloyd wanted to start crying at that. 

Kai fought their way through, and they made it to the second floor, and Lloyd didn't remember much of what happened in between. But they made it to the door. Kai opened the door. "Go on out." He smiled.

Lloyd limped outside. It was  _sunny_ , and the outside was full of  _grass_. He looked up and spun around, not daring to close his eyes. He laughed.

The logical part of his brain said no, that this couldn't possibly be real. The other parts of his brain wanted to enjoy this while it lasted.

It didn't last long. 

When Lloyd woke up this time, that was when he realized his dreams had to have been sent by the Overlord, and he yelled out, "You son of a bitch! Overlord! You sick son of a bitch! God! Goddammit!"

"You taught you that word?" The Overlord laughed as he crawled into the basement.

"Jay." Lloyd spat. "You-"

"I'll strike a deal with you. Start eating, and the visions stop." The Overlord's eyes glinted. "I want you  _alive_."

"That's too bad." Lloyd hissed. "Because I don't want to be here."

  _I lost. I lost I lost. Lost lost lost lostlostlost-_

Stop.

* * *

 _My nephew has been captured by the Overlord._ Wu stared into the fire, looking for an answer. 

Something.

An idea started to form in his head as he stared at the rising smoke. It was a daring rescue mission. It was far too risky.

 _Only if worst comes to worst_ , Wu thought.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is short i have other stuff to do lol next chapters will be longer i guess

Lloyd tried to remember a time before it all went wrong.

Pause.

Rewind.

Rewind.

Rewind.

Rewind.

Rewind.

Rewind.

Rewind.

Pause.

Play.

Lloyd was, what, seven? 

"Mom?" He said, pulling on her jacket. She looked down at him, smiling. She was so much taller than him.

"You want ice cream?" She asked. "Come on, I have an idea. Let's go get ice cream, green bean."

Green bean. She called him that. Lloyd had never really known why.

So they went, and they got ice cream. It was one of Lloyd's clearer memories of his mother, from his childhood. He couldn't remember her face or hair, but he remembered her smile, and that she was sad.

The next day she had dropped him off at Darkley's and never come back, but hey, the ice cream had been fun.

\---

"Alright, bitches we got a Lloyd to rescue." Wu said, walking up to the team's campfire.

Kai sat up straight. "Is this real? Am I dreaming? Jay, punch me if I'm dreaming."

"Sensei, why are you cursing?" Zane asked, tilting his head.

"It was the best way to get your attention." He shrugged and sat down. "Kai, you were right. We can't do this without Lloyd. We can't let the Overlord have Ninjago City. We've regrouped, and we've recovered. Now we just need my nephew back. Misako and I have come up with a plan."

"We're all ears." Cole said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my tumblr is witchlightsands and im actually a lloyd appreciation blog tbh


	4. Chapter 4

Lloyd had never really thought himself the religious type.

He still wasn't, never had been, but he knew the stories, obviously. He knew a few of the words. He knew what to say to sound smart, and what to say to someone trying to convince him to _actually_ attend church, and he knew what to say to make Cole feel bad for eating the last cookie. 

Lloyd wasn't the religious type. Never had been.

But there was only one thing he could think to scream out in his loneliness, his pain, and his desperation.

" _God, why have you forsaken me?_ " He cried out, and his voice echoed several times.

\---

"It's not an all out assault on the tower." Misako pointed with her stick to the shapes she'd drawn in the sand. "The  _most important thing_ is to  _not get separated_." She looked at each of them individually until they all murmured agreement. She gestured to the assorted group of rocks and acorns that represented each member of their team. Lloyd was a leaf inside the box she was calling the Overlord's base. "You go in, you find Lloyd, you get out. Stealth is of the essence for this. We are saving attacking for another day unless we get a very clear shot to make it hurt."

"We don't leave anyone behind." Nya nodded. "And we stay on plan."

"We just fly the dragon over to the main land?" Jay poked at Misako's diagram, ignoring her dirty look as he disturbed her lines. "Won't that give us away?"

"We'll drop you on the edges of the city before me and Wu fly inwards." Misako said. "Plus, we'll have look-a-like dummies on there. They won't know you've been in the tower until you're gone."

"Uh, one problem." Kai said.

"One? I can detect multiple problems in this plan." Zane said. Kai glared at him. "The problem  _I_ was thinking of is we don't know where the hell they're keeping Lloyd. What if he's not there?"

"Are you saying what if Lloyd's... dead?" Cole whispered. 

"No!" Kai recoiled and snapped. "I'm saying what if he's in a different building? Or a different city?"

"Then we're all damned!" Jay said brightly. "Well, we're all damned anyways. So we might as well try this, right?"

"Exactly the spirit, Jay!" Cole cheered.

"He basically just said we're all going to die but we're doing this for the hell of it." Nya pointed out.

"Whatever, at least he was upbeat about it. That's better than you downers."

\---

Pause.

A moment frozen in time. It dragged on a lot longer than it should have.

A shaky breath sort of, a sting in the eyes.

Play.

A ragged breath, and a rattle of chains.

Pause.

Play.

Time slid in and out of meaning.

Pause.

Lloyd was pretty sure he still had tear ducts. No, he was sure he did. He could feel the tears brimming.

But no matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't manage to cry.

Stop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *casually projects onto the ninjago world* lets pretend they have a concept of God/religion
> 
> my tumblr is witchlightsands but im not going to be active on there for an undetermined length of time, and all ao3 updates will end up stopping completely on june first for an equally undetermined length of time bc i got *jazz hands* grounded


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